The Dictatorship
The Latest: Markets sink as Trump’s tariffs roil global trading system
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U.S. stocks ended another tumultuous day lower as markets reel from President Donald Trump’s latest threats to crank his tariffs higher.
The S&P 500 sank 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.
What to know:
- Stocks spiked after false report of a tariff pause: Stocks briefly soared Monday morning after social media users claimed that Kevin Hassett, a top White House economic adviser, said the president was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs. A White House account quickly weighed in on X, calling the report “fake news.”
- Trump is threatening more tariffs on China: “If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs Trump announced last week.
- Globally, economic bellwethers are flagging: Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped below $60 during the morning for the first time since 2021, hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel. Bitcoin sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January, after holding steadier than other markets last week.
▶ Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration
Mixed finish for ‘Magnificent Seven’
Shares in Amazon, Nvidia and most of the other dominant U.S. stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven” closed higher Monday following a roller-coaster day on Wall Street.
Nvidia gained 3.5%, Meta Platforms added 2.3%, Amazon rose 2.5% and Google parent Alphabet finished 0.8% higher.
The other three stocks lost ground: Apple fell 3.7%, Microsoft slid 0.6% and Tesla dropped 2.6%.
The “Magnificent Seven” are so massive in size that their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than other stocks.
Even with some notching gains Monday, the stocks are all still down following the major market sell-off last Wednesday. They have since shed a combined market value of $1.81 trillion.
Market volatility shows that investors are still hoping for tariff negotiations
Trump has given several reasons for his stiff tariffs, including bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States, which is a process that could take years. Trump on Sunday said he wanted to bring down the numbers for how much more the United States imports from other countries versus how much it sends to them.
Indexes nevertheless kept swinging between losses and gains Monday, in part because markets still hope that negotiations may still come.
“We’re not calling the all-clear at all, but when you have this type of volatility in the market, of course you’re going to have back and forth” in markets ranging from day to day and hour to hour, said Nate Thooft, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management.
“We’re all waiting for the next bit of information,” he said. “Literally a Truth Social tweet or an announcement of some sort about real negotiations could dramatically move this market. This is the world we live in right now.”
Monday’s market spike shows just how closely investors are watching for news on tariffs
A sudden rise Monday morning followed a false rumor that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs, one that a White House account on X quickly labeled as “fake news.”
That a rumor could move trillions of dollars’ worth of investments shows how much investors are hoping to see signs that Trump may let up on tariffs.Stocks quickly turned back down, and shortly afterward, Trump dug in further and said he may raise tariffs more against China after the world’s second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs on U.S. products.
It’s a slap in the face to Wall Street, not just because of the sharp losses it’s taken, but because it suggests Trump may not be moved by its pain.
Many professional investors had long thought that a president who used to crow about records reached under his watch would pull back on policies if they sent the Dow reeling.
How major US stock indexes fared Monday
On Monday:
- The S&P 500 fell 11.83 points, or 0.2%, to 5,062.25.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349.26 points, or 0.9%, to 37,965.60.
- The Nasdaq composite rose 15.48 points, or 0.1%, to 15,603.26.
- The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.89 points, or 0.9%, to 1,810.14.
For the year:
- The S&P 500 is down 819.38 points, or 13.9%.
- The Dow is down 4,578.62 points, or 10.8%.
- The Nasdaq is down 3,707.53 points, or 19.2%.
- The Russell 2000 is down 420.01 points, or 18.8%.
US stocks end modestly lower after reeling from Trump’s threats to escalate his tariff fight
A screen shows stock prices at the Nasdaq MarketSite, Monday, April 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A screen shows stock prices at the Nasdaq MarketSite, Monday, April 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Stocks ended another tumultuous day lower as markets reel from President Trump’s latest threats to escalate his tariff fight.
The S&P 500 sank 0.2% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%. The Dow was earlier down as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses worldwide on worries that Trump’s tariffs could torpedo the global economy.
It then surged to a gain after a rumor circulated that Trump may pause his tariffs. But the White House quickly called that fake news, and Trump then threatened to raise tariffs further on China.
JUST IN: US stocks end modestly lower after another rocky day caused by Trump’s latest threats to escalate his tariff fight
Sell, baby, sell
The Marathon Garyville Oil Refinery in Reserve, La., is seen Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The Marathon Garyville Oil Refinery in Reserve, La., is seen Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President’s Trump promise to “drill, baby, drill”,” was expected to usher in happy days for fossil fuel companies. But it hasn’t worked out that way so far.
Oil and gas companies have been among the biggest decliners over the past few days as an escalating trade war raises fears of an economic downturn and a drop in demand for energy products.
Over the past three trading sessions, Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy and Halliburton have all declined by more than 20%. APA Corp., which operates in the U.S., Egypt and the U.K., has dropped more than 30%. The price of oil has declined from around $71 in the middle of last week to $61 Monday.
Trump says he won’t pause tariff plan
Despite hopes that he’ll back off his trade policies, the president said he’s not going to pause plans for tariffs.
“We’re not looking at that,” he said in the Oval Office. However, he also said foreign leaders were looking to cut new trade deals with the U.S.
“We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate with us,” he said.
Trump said there was no contradiction between implementing tariffs and holding talks.”
They can both be true,” he said.
Trump has lost more than a billion dollars in stock value
Trump’s stake in his social media company that runs Truth Social has fallen to $2.4 billion, a 40% plunge from when the stock market began tumbling on tariff fears on February 19. The drop in percentage terms is twice that of the S&P 500.
The president’s heavy exposure to stocks through his Trump Media & Technology stake contrasts sharply from when he was last president and boasted regularly about stock market records.
Back then, before he took his social media public, he had just 0.1% of his wealth in stocks.
Just how much a backlash from Trump’s tariffs will hurt his overseas golf club and hotel and residential tower businesses is unclear because they are privately held.
Before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, Forbes valued his holdings, including his Trump Media stake, at about $5 billion.
Experts worry of a possible bear market
Wall Street could soon be in the claws of another bear market as the Trump administration’s tariff blitz fuels fears that the added taxes on imported goods from around the world will sink the global economy.
An electronic display shows financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An electronic display shows financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A bear market is a term used by Wall Street when an index such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 20% or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time.
The last bear market happened from Jan. 3 to Oct. 12 in 2022. But this decline feels more like the sudden, turbulent bear market of 2020, when the benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled 34% in a one-month period, the shortest bear market ever.
The S&P 500, Wall Street’s main barometer of health, was down 1.2% in Monday afternoon trading. It’s now 18.4% below the all-time high it set on Feb. 19.
The Dow industrials fell 1.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, which already was in a bear market, dropped 0.9%.
▶Read more about the possible shift to a bear market
UK and Singapore prime ministers agree to strengthen collaboration amid US tariffs
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed U.S. tariffs with his Singapore counterpart and they agreed there can be no winners in a trade war, his office said.
Starmer updated Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on his calls with other leaders over the weekend and both agreed to work to maintain global economic stability, according to a readout of the call.
The two agreed to strengthen collaboration through bilateral agreements and trading blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“On the wider bilateral relationship, the leaders committed to further collaboration on areas including technology, security and defense in the 60th year of bilateral relations,” Starmer’s office said.
Apple, Starbucks, Caterpillar among declining stocks
An Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store on March 14, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
An Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store on March 14, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
Apple tumbled again on Monday after President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs against China.
China is the iPhone maker’s second-biggest market and home to the vast majority of its production and assembly.
In afternoon trading, Apple fell 3.2%, to $182.34 per share. That follows a combined decline of more than 16% on Thursday and Friday. Its shares are down more than 25% this year.
Other notable decliners Monday included Starbucks (-2.8%); Tesla (-1.6%); Levi Strauss (-1.7%); and Caterpillar (-2.4%).
Much like the major stock indexes, many companies whipsawed back-and-forth between gains and losses.
Nvidia was down as much as 7% early before rebounding to a 5% gain in the afternoon, for instance.
US Secretary of State speaks with Pakistan’s deputy PM about economic cooperation
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken to Pakistan’s deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, days after President Trump imposed 29% tariffs on exports to his country from Pakistan.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that the two sides “discussed bilateral relations, regional security, and economic cooperation.”
The statement quoted Rubio as saying that the cooperation in economy and trade would be the hallmark of future relations between the two countries.
The latest development came hours after the Pakistan Stock Exchange fell rapidly, with Islamabad facing 29% tariffs from the U.S.
WATCH: Japan PM says he told Trump to rethink tariff policies
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he held telephone talks on Monday with President Donald Trump and told him he is “strongly concerned” that U.S. tariffs would discourage investment from Japan, which has been the world’s biggest investor in the United States in the past five years.
Beijing cites President Reagan to blast Trump’s tariffs and protectionism
Beijing has issued several strongly-worded rebukes to Trump’s tariffs, including one entirely in the words of late-President Ronald Reagan.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” the Republican president said in a video clip dated 1987, as posted on the X social media site Monday by the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. The embassy wrote that the decades-old speech “finds new relevance in 2025.”
“The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trader barriers, and less and less competition,” Reagan said in the speech, in which he warned of the worst from tariff wars: markets should collapse, businesses shut down, and millions of people lose jobs.
Experts don’t think China will back down in the face of Trump’s latest tariff threat
Experts say Beijing is unlikely to back down, after President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on China if Beijing does not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs.
“At this point, it is extremely unlikely for China to back down,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, adding any leadership summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping “doesn’t appear likely in the near future.”
“China is increasingly convinced that the tariff is not negotiable because Trump’s eventual goal is to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.,” Sun said.
Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at another Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called Trump’s threat from today “a blunt ultimatum to Beijing that sharply raises the takes in the U.S.-China tariff war.” He said Beijing’s rigid system and fear of looking weak prevent Xi from opening back channels with the Trump administration that could offer relief.
“This is not a contest of endurance so much as a collision course, where neither side intends to swerve,” Singleton said. “In other words, Trump and Xi are locked into escalation-as-strategy, and the risk now is a slow-motion spiral with no clear ceiling.”
Think twice before bailing out of the stock market, financial advisers say
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is framed by a trader’s screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is framed by a trader’s screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The huge swings rocking Wall Street and the global economy may feel far from normal. But, for investing at least, drops of this size have happened throughout history.
Any kind of uncertainty around the economy will give Wall Street pause, but the trade war is making it more difficult for companies, households and others to feel confident enough to invest, spend and make long-term plans.
Anytime an investor sees they’re losing money, it feels bad. This recent run feels particularly unnerving because of how incredibly calm the market had previously been. The S&P 500 is coming off a second straight year where it shot up by more than 20%.
Selling may offer some feeling of relief. But it also locks in losses and prevents the chance of making the money back over time. Historically, the S&P 500 has come back from every one of its downturns to eventually make investors whole again. That includes after the Great Depression, the dot-com bust and the 2020 COVID crash.
▶Read more about what experts advise you do with your money in the stock market
Markets in Europe sink for a third day
European markets continued their recent descent Monday, logging a third straight day of major losses.
Germany’s DAX index, which briefly fell more than 10% at th e open on the Frankfurt exchange, recovered some ground and closed down 4.1%. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 4.8%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 tumbled 4.4%.
Prior to last week, most indexes in Europe had enjoyed a resurgence after underperforming U.S. markets last year.
The EUs executive commission — which handles trade issues for the 27-country bloc — is set to impose tariffs on jeans, whiskey and motorcycles Wednesday in response to Trump’s increase in steel and aluminum tariffs.
EU commissioners haven’t cemented a response to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff of 20% on European goods and a 25% tariff imposed on autos.
Betting on a Fed rate cut
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at the SABEW Annual Conference Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing Annual Conference in Arlington, Va., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at the SABEW Annual Conference Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing Annual Conference in Arlington, Va., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Wall Street is increasingly betting that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at least four times this year.
That expectation has increased since the White House unleashed its sweeping tariffs on imported goods.
As of Monday, traders are betting on a 61.6% chance that the Fed will leave its rate unchanged at its next meeting of policymakers in May, according to data from CME Group. That’d down from 63.1% a month ago.
However, traders’ odds of rate cut announcements at Fed meetings in June, July, September and December are all up versus a month ago.
The Fed has been holding interest rates steady this year, after cutting them sharply through the end of last year.
Copper prices fall further
Benches line the Cobre Panamá copper mine during a press tour of the mine in Donoso, Panama, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Benches line the Cobre Panamá copper mine during a press tour of the mine in Donoso, Panama, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
The price of copper fell nearly 4% Monday following sharp drops late last week. Copper prices were up as much as 30% for the year as of late March and nearly all of those gains have been erased.
Copper prices had hit record levels because of growing demand amid developments for artificial intelligence technology and a global shift to cleaner energy. A prolonged trade war threatens economies around the world. That makes investments in technology and energy infrastructure more difficult.
Much of the world’s technology wouldn’t work without copper. It goes into cords for electrical devices, transmission lines, batteries, LED lights and other electronics.
Gas price increase is likely short-lived
The average price for a gallon of gas is up for the third straight week in the U.S., but that’s likely to reverse course soon with oil prices in rapid retreat.
The average price for a gallon of gas hit $3.21 this week, up more than 10 cents, according to GasBuddy. That’s still more than 35 cents lower that last year at this time.
The per-gallon price is illuminated on the pump at a Costco warehouse gasoline station Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Thornton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The per-gallon price is illuminated on the pump at a Costco warehouse gasoline station Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Thornton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Oil prices on Monday briefly dipped below $60 for the first time since 2021 as a global trade war escalates.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said that if tariffs aren’t scaled back soon, the national average could fall below $3 per gallon in the coming weeks.
Heavy weights lead market shifts
An electronic display shows financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An electronic display shows financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Wall Street’s big swings are being led by the technology sector, which has an outsized impact on the broader market.
The sector is full of companies with pricey stock valuations, such as Nvidia, which tend to push and pull the market with greater force than less valuable stocks. Their heft means a big shift either way for a just handful of companies can sink or lift the S&P 500.
Technology companies, including chipmakers, have seen their values skyrocket over hopes for artificial intelligence advancements. Higher costs for chips and other technologies pose a risk to that development and the earnings growth prospects for companies like Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft.
Trump threatens additional tariffs on China
“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!
Trump’s threat comes after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs announced last week.
British prime minister says tariffs are a ‘huge challenge’ for the UK
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said President Trump’s tariffs were a “huge challenge” for the U.K. and could have “profound” consequences for the global economy.
Britain’s Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Keir Starmer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed Prime Minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, after the party won a landslide victory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain’s Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Keir Starmer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed Prime Minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, after the party won a landslide victory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
“But this moment has also made something very clear — that this is not a passing phase,” he said. “And just as we’ve seen with our national security, particularly over recent months in relation to the war in Ukraine, now with our commerce and trade, this is … a completely new world, an era where old assumptions, which we’ve long taken for granted, simply don’t apply any longer.”
Speaking to workers at a plant in the West Midlands that makes Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles for the export market, Starmer said his government would continue to try to negotiate a trade deal with the United States while championing free trade around the world.
Jaguar Land Rover on Saturday announced that it was pausing shipments to the U.S. for the month of April as it works out how to respond to the 25% tax on imported cars that took effect last week.
Starmer announced some help for the British car industry, providing additional flexibility in meeting the government’s 2030 deadline for phasing out gasoline- and diesel-power cars, extending the deadline for hybrids to 2035 and offering tax breaks for buyers of electric vehicles.
JUST IN: Trump threatens more tariffs on China if Beijing does not withdraw retaliatory measures
Slide in oil prices deepens
FILE – A sign at a Sinclair gas station is seen next to an Arco gas station advertising gasoline prices, June 10, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)
FILE – A sign at a Sinclair gas station is seen next to an Arco gas station advertising gasoline prices, June 10, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)
Oil prices are falling Monday, extending their slide from last week, as investors anticipate that a trade war will chill global economic growth.
The price of benchmark U.S. crude oil is down 1.1% to $61.32 a barrel. Earlier in the day, it briefly dipped below $60 a barrel for the first time since 2021.
U.S. crude is down 14.2% so far this month.
Brent crude, the international standard, is down 1% to $64.88 a barrel.
Bitcoin and other cryptos see large price drops
After holding relatively stable during last week’s global market turmoil, cryptocurrencies have joined the sell-off.
Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency dipped below $75,000 Monday morning before seeing a slight rebound.
Bitcoin’s prices haven’t been this low since just after President Donald Trump’s Election Day victory last year launched a bull run in crypto prices.
Bitcoin’s backers say it is a type of digital gold that can act as a hedge against volatility. But Garrick Hileman, an independent cryptocurrency analyst, said bitcoin’s price slide shows that thesis still hasn’t proven to be true.
“It’s just not there today,” he said. “[Bitcoin] trades like a risky tech stock.”
Other major digital assets, like ether, XRP and solana, saw even bigger one-day percentage drops on Monday morning.
Bond yields are mixed after brief rally
Treasury yields are mixed in Monday morning trading on the bond market after briefly rallying in the early going.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.09% from 4.01% late Friday. It had fallen as low as 3.88% overnight.
The yield, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, was nearing 4.8% in mid-January.
The two-year yield, which closely tracks expectations for action by the Federal Reserve, was steady at 3.68%.
A White House account on X says it was ‘fake news’ that Trump was considering a tariff pause
The account, @RapidResponse47, weighed in shortly after the market spiked, then dropped again.
Stock market spikes in reaction to White House report that president may pause tariffs
Mark Mueller works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Mark Mueller works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The stock market briefly spiked on a report that Kevin Hassett, a top White House economic adviser, said the president was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs.
The supposed remark from Hassett circulated on social media, but no one could pinpoint where it came from even as the market flashed from red to green.
Hassett had spoken to Fox News earlier in the morning, when he was asked about a potential pause. However, he was noncommittal.
“I think the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide,” he said.
The episode showed that traders were operating on a hair trigger and eager for any sign of encouraging news for the market.
Stocks are sharply swinging down, up, then down again on Wall Street
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly erased a morning loss of 1,700 points, shot up more than 800 points, then went back to a loss of 629 points.
The S&P 500 likewise made sudden up-and-down lurching movements and was down 0.7% in the first hour of trading. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.2% That followed sharp drops around the world as worries rise about whether Trump’s trade war will torpedo the global economy.
A big Tesla bull slams Musk, slashes stock price target
The Tesla logo is displayed at a Tesla dealership Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Tesla logo is displayed at a Tesla dealership Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says Elon Musk’s association with President Trump and his tariffs will turn off potential Tesla buyers in China, the company’s second largest market. Ives writes that Musk’s embrace of right-wing politics is destroying demand for his electric vehicles in the U.S. and Europe, too.
“This could be a brutal year ahead if Musk does not exit stage left or take a step back on DOGE in the coming month,” Ives writes, referring to the Tesla CEO’s leadership of the government cost-cutting group. “With major protests erupting globally at Tesla dealerships, Tesla cars being keyed, and a full brand crisis tornado turning into a life of its own, this has cast a dark black cloud over Tesla’s stock.”
Even before Trump’s tariffs, Tesla stock had plunged more than 40% from its mid-December high.
Ives’ new price target of $315 still assumes big gains. Tesla was trading Monday morning at $229, down more than 4%.
JUST IN: Stocks turn positive on Wall Street in a sudden reversal and the Dow jumps 300 points erasing a loss of 1,700
Japan’s prime minister told Trump he is concerned the tariffs will discourage investment from Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he spoke on the telephone with Trump on Monday night and told him he is “strongly concerned” that U.S. tariffs would discourage investment from Japan, which has been the world’s biggest investor in the United States in the past five years.
Ishiba said he urged Trump to seek a more mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, and that Japan will keep negotiating to get the U.S. government reconsider the measures.
The two leaders reaffirmed their efforts to resolve the issue, and agreed to appoint a team of representatives on each side for further negotiations.
Shigeru Ishiba, member of House of Representatives of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and one of candidates for LDP leadership election speaks during his press conference Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Tokyo. In response to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s suggestion Japan should change its defense policy, Ishiba explained that Japan does not have a capability, and it would take a lot of time and cost to be able to acquire such a capability, and Japan would have to rely on the U.S. for surveillance. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Shigeru Ishiba, member of House of Representatives of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and one of candidates for LDP leadership election speaks during his press conference Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Tokyo. In response to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s suggestion Japan should change its defense policy, Ishiba explained that Japan does not have a capability, and it would take a lot of time and cost to be able to acquire such a capability, and Japan would have to rely on the U.S. for surveillance. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Ishiba said his government will hold a first ministerial taskforce meeting to tackle what he called “a national crisis.”
The prime minister told a parliamentary session earlier Monday that he doesn’t think the problem can be resolved unless Japan makes a counter proposal and that Japan needs to propose how the two countries can make a new relationship as a package. Ishiba, however, said he is not considering a retaliatory measure because it only makes things worse.
Ishiba said the government will do everything it can to help the industries affected, especially small and medium sized business owners.
European Union will focus on global trade beyond the US
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a statement after a meeting of the college of commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced plans Wednesday for a major contract extension for COVID-19 vaccines with Pfizer stretching to 2023. (John Thys, Pool via AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a statement after a meeting of the college of commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced plans Wednesday for a major contract extension for COVID-19 vaccines with Pfizer stretching to 2023. (John Thys, Pool via AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union is looking to do more business elsewhere in the world as President Trump’s tariffs hit international trade.
She said Monday that the EU is also is setting up a taskforce to monitor any dumping on its markets that might happen as trade patterns change.
“We will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the United States. Vast opportunities,” von der Leyen said. After deals already done with Mexico and Switzerland, she said, “we’re working on India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many others.”
Von der Leyen says the taskforce will help to monitor any unexpected surges in imports and “protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion.”
The European Commission negotiates trade deals and disputes on behalf of the 27 EU member countries.
Von der Leyen insists the EU still wants a deal with the Trump administration, but that “we are preparing a potential list for retaliation, and other measures for retaliation, if this is necessary.”
JPMorgan CEO says tariffs will slow economy
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says the Trump administration’s trade policies will likely result in higher prices for both imported and domestic goods and services, weighing on an already slowing U.S. economy.
FILE – In this April 4, 2017 file photo, Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, discusses his Annual Letter to Shareholders at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America in Washington. (Paul Morigi/AP Images for JPMorgan Chase)
FILE – In this April 4, 2017 file photo, Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, discusses his Annual Letter to Shareholders at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America in Washington. (Paul Morigi/AP Images for JPMorgan Chase)
In his annual letter to shareholders, released Monday, Dimon said the U.S. economy already faced a number of challenges: sticky inflation, geopolitical tensions, Federal Reserve policy including still-high interest rates and high fiscal deficits. Dimon also said that many stocks in the market have been priced too high.
The outspoken and influential CEO often comments on both domestic and international issues.
“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” Dimon wrote, while also saying “I still have an abiding faith in America.”
JUST IN: Dow drops 1,200 as worries deepen about economic impact of Trump’s trade war
Goldman Sachs says tariff announcement may have caused irreversible damage
FILE – The logo for Goldman Sachs appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, July 13, 2021. Goldman Sachs saw its third quarter earnings fall 33%, with the investment bank seeing muted market conditions that allowed fewer deals and market making opportunities for the firm, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
FILE – The logo for Goldman Sachs appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, July 13, 2021. Goldman Sachs saw its third quarter earnings fall 33%, with the investment bank seeing muted market conditions that allowed fewer deals and market making opportunities for the firm, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
The financial firm said a recession has become more likely even if Trump retreats from his trade policies.
Goldman Sachs also reduced its expectations for economic growth “following a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed.”
But even meeting those expectations “would now require a large reduction in the tariffs scheduled to take effect on April 9.”
Trump digs his heels in
In a Truth Social post Monday morning, the president showed no interest in changing course despite turmoil in global markets.
He said other countries had been “taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA” on international trade.
“Our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump criticized China for increasing its own tariffs and “not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate.”
Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump since the tariff announcement
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Yair Sagi/Pool Photo via AP)
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Yair Sagi/Pool Photo via AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington Monday. Whether his visit succeeds in bringing down or eliminating Israel’s 17% tariff remains to be seen, but how it plays out could set the stage for how other world leaders try to address the new tariffs.
Netanyahu’s office has put the focus of his hastily organized Washington visit on the tariffs, while stressing that the two leaders will discuss major geopolitical issues including the war in Gaza, tensions with Iran, Israel-Turkey ties and the International Criminal Court.
In a preemptive move last week, Israel announced that it was removing all tariffs on goods from the U.S., mostly on imported food and agricultural products.
A snapshot of global markets
- Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened and futures trading for the benchmark was briefly suspended. It closed down 7.8% at 31,136.58.
- Germany’s DAX index briefly fell more than 10% at the open on the Frankfurt exchange, but recovered some ground to move down 5.8% in morning trading.
- France’s CAC 40 shed 5.8% in morning trading.
- Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 4.9% in morning trading.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 13.2% to 19,828.30.
- Shanghei’s Composite index lost 7.3% to 3,096.58.
- Taiwan’s Taiex plummeted 9.7%.
- South Korea’s Kospi lost 5.6% to 2,328.20.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 4.2% to 7,343.30, recovering from a loss of more than 6%.
- India’s benchmark BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 index both dropped about 5% after trading opened but then recovered slightly.
- Dubai’s Financial Market exchange fell 5% as it opened for the week.
- Abu Dhabi’s Securities Exchange fell 4%.
- Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchangewhich opened Sunday, fell over 6% in trading. The giant of the exchange, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco, fell over 5% on its own, wiping away billions in market capitalization for the world’s sixth-most-valuable company.
- Pakistan’s stock exchange suspended trading for an hour after a 5% drop in its main KSE-30 index.
Trump called tariffs ‘medicine’ as he promised not to back down
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he won’t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the U.S., digging in on his plans to implement the taxes that have sent financial markets reeling.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, President Donald Trump said he didn’t want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn’t concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
“I spoke to a lot of leaders, European, Asian, from all over the world,” Trump said. “They’re dying to make a deal. And I said, we’re not going to have deficits with your country. We’re not going to do that, because to me a deficit is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses or at worst, going to be breaking even.”
Panic Monday: World stock markets plunge again
By ELAINE KURTENBACH, DAVID MCHUGH
Global stock markets extended a severe plunge Monday, fueled by fears that U.S. tariffs would lead to a global economic slowdown. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index flirted with bear market territory in pre-market trading, and oil prices sagged.
The massive sell-off in riskier assets at the start of the trading week follows President Donald Trump’s announcement of sharply higher U.S. import taxes and retaliation from China that saw mar kets fall sharply Thursday and Friday.
▶ Read more on what’s happening with global markets
The Dictatorship
What Tom Emmer said about Somalis was racist. What’s worse is he doesn’t believe it.
ByMichael Tisserand
There was a time when President Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans didn’t think House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., had a sufficient understanding of who his enemies ought to be. But in remarks he made Wednesday at a Capitol Hill event sponsored by Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Coalition, Emmer did his best to signal that Trump’s enemies are his enemies, too.
Emmer’s 11-minute talk, during which he expressed racism and transphobia and railed against abortion, also served as yet another contrast to the memory of what Republicans in Minnesota used to be. The name of the state party used to be Independent-Republicansand the late U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger used to describe the state party’s worldview, without irony, as progressive Republicanism.
Emmer’s talk served as yet another contrast to the memory of what Republicans in Minnesota used to be.
That party is long gone. At Wednesday’s event, Emmer theatrically dismissed a few sheets of paper he said were his talking points and proclaimed, Trump-like, that he was going rogue. He took aim at transgender youth (“there’s a reason why Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed”), at “elite radical lefties,” at “evil Marxists,” at the media, called his state’s abortion laws “as bad as North Korea” and called the state itself the “People’s Republic of Minnesota.”
But Emmer earned some of the most enthusiastic applause in his racist rant against the state’s large Somali American population. “Sometimes Minnesotans are so afraid that you’re going to call us a racist, you’re going to call us an Islamophobe,” he said, before saying, “But I’m done being careful. Even the least bit careful.”
He said, “I don’t really care where you come from. But if come to this great country, you have to understand, you’re coming here to be an American.” Somalis “don’t assimilate,” he said, “And if they don’t assimilate, then they should go the hell back to where they came from.”
Among the people who responded angrily to Emmer’s slander of Somalis was Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who was born in Somalia. “I assimilated all the way to Congress and this idiot still tells me to go back to where I came from,” she wrote on X.
In the debacle that followed Kevin McCarthy being voted out of the House speakership in 2023, Emmer was not elected to replace him because, by MAGA standards, he was too moderate. Trump called him a “Globalist RINO” and was still fuming that after Joe Biden won the race for president in 2020, Emmer voted to certify that election.
Emmer has worked harder to be seen as MAGA since then. In December, he appeared on “Varney & Co.” on Fox Business to support an Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge that made Somalis among its primary targets and became known as Operation Metro Surge. He offered up conspiracy theories and lies about Somali Americans committing 80% of the crime in the Twin Cities. He said money was being stolen from Minnesota state and federal programs to fund the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabab.
When he signed up with the so-called Sharia Free America Caucus in February, he railed against letting “anti-American ideologies take root in our communities” and said he had been fighting against the nonexistent threat of Sharia law since he was a state legislator. I was unable to find stories of Emmer as a state legislator fearmongering about Sharia law. However, in 2015, when one of Emmer’s fellow Republicans was being rightly rebuked for attending an anti-Muslim event in St. Cloud, Emmer was a voice of reason and tolerance. He wanted his constituents to know that Somali Americans were contributing to the Minnesota communities they had made home and that they were “some of the fastest-assimilating populations.”
That same year, Emmer joined then-Rep. Keith Ellison, the Democrat who’s now the state’s attorney general, to found the Congressional Somalia Caucus: to help Somali Americans here and to promote peace and stability in Somalia.
Now Ellison is taking the lead in legal challenges against the ICE assaults Emmer champions.
This is the ticket into MAGA world: an embrace of abdication of decency and a necessary rejection of the spirit of welcome and tolerance one once held.
This is the ticket into MAGA world.
In April, a west central Minnesota event called “Understanding Immigration: A Community Conversation,” included Ayan Omar, a Somali American from St. Cloud, as a speaker. She works as equity director for the public schools and has been active in interfaith dialogues in the city.
Omar spoke of coming to the U.S. as a child, learning English by watching “The Simpsons” and learning self-value by watching “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” The message from Mr. Rogers, she said, was especially important because “I just wanted to cower and hide away because I stood out. Not only because I was a Somali-American refugee, but I was also poor.” It was learning about Frederick Douglass that inspired her to become a teacher.
What she was describing was the process of her becoming more and more American. Countless other Somali Americans have had similar experiences. OEmmer knows that.
And not so long ago, he wasn’t afraid to say it.
Michael Tisserand
Michael Tisserand is a Minnesota-based writer whose works include “Krazy,” a biography of cartoonist George Herriman, and Sugarcane Academy, a memoir of his family’s experiences of Hurricane Katrina. With support from a Guggenheim Fellowship, he is currently writing a book about Charlie Chaplin and “The Great Dictator,” for Oxford University Press.
An appeals court on Friday upheld Harvey Weinstein’s2022 rape and sexual assault conviction in California, but ordered the trial judge who gave him 16 years in prison to resentence him.
A three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously issued the decision, saying his trial judge did not violate the former movie magnate’s constitutional rights.
“We reject his attempts to disturb the jury’s guilty verdicts,” the judges wrote in their opinion.
Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said in an email that “We are disappointed by today’s decision and respectfully disagree with the Court of Appeal’s conclusions regarding the fairness of Mr. Weinstein’s trial. At the same time, the court correctly recognized that his sentence cannot stand.”
The decision came a day after prosecutors in New York decided Weinstein would not face a fourth trial there, dropping the #MeToo-era case after the accuser said she could not bear to testify again.
The California panel said that resentencing was necessary because the judge that sentenced him considered New York convictions that were later thrown out as an aggravating factor. California’s attorney general agreed.
Weinstein, 74, still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York, and he remains behind bars awaiting a September sentencing there. Prosecutors there are seeking a 20-year prison term.
In California, Weinstein was convicted in December 2022 of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor known during the trial as Jane Doe 1. He would serve his new sentence there only after his New York term is complete.
After the trial, Jane Doe 1 came forward under her name, Evgeniya Chernyshova, when she sued Weinstein in civil court.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Chernyshova did. Her attorney also said she consented to being named.
Chernyshova testified that Weinstein arrived uninvited to her hotel room during the 2013 LA Italia Film Festival and assaulted her.
Weinstein’s defense argued that Weinstein deserved a new trial because Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench wrongly prevented his trial lawyers from asking about Facebook messages between Chernyshova and festival head Pascal Vicedomini that would have shown they had a sexual relationship.
The questioning would have demonstrated that she perjured herself when she said she and Vicedomini were just friends and colleagues, the defense said. And the lawyers argued it would have bolstered their assertion that she was not even in her room on the night of the alleged assault.
“The lower court all but gutted Mr. Weinstein’s defense,” attorney Jennifer Bonjean told the appeals judges at April 23 oral arguments.
But the appeals court said in its ruling that Weinstein did make the arguments he wanted during the trial based on other evidence, including another set of Facebook messages that Lench allowed.
“Thus, there was no denial of Weinstein’s constitutional right to present a defense,” the panel wrote in its opinion.
The three judges also found that Weinstein’s lawyers failed to adhere to California’s rape shield law prohibiting evidence of an accuser’s sexual history when they tried to introduce the messages. Weinstein’s lawyers had argued that the shield law was not pertinent because they wanted to use the messages only to impeach the witness’s credibility.
And the appeals judges said testimony from accusers describing sexual assaults Weinstein was not charged with was appropriate, and allowed under state law.
Before his sentencing, Weinstein told the judge that this was a “made-up story” from a woman he had never met.
The Los Angeles jury acquitted Weinstein of the sexual battery of a massage therapist and failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women.
“This is not the end of the appellate process,” Engelmayer said in his email Friday. “We intend to seek review in the California Supreme Court because we continue to believe significant legal errors affected the proceedings and warrant further review.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it would not have comment on the decision until the office reviewed it.
An email seeking comment from Chernyshova’s attorney was not immediately answered.
ByGarry Pierre-Pierre
One of the first people, and the very first doctor, to publicly receive a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States was Dr. Yves Duroseauthe chair of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
At a time when fear had emptied city streets and refrigerated trucks were lined up near hospital loading docksthat son of Haiti was a face of hope.
For Haitians, that image carried a deeper resonance. Ours is a community that America has often noticed only in moments of crisis. For once, the country was looking at a Haitian because he represented hope.
Ours is a community that America often noticed only in moments of crisis.
That memory from five and a half years ago is one reason the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians hit me so hard. Not with anger, but with deep sadness.
When I took the oath of citizenship decades ago, I believed America rewarded commitment with belonging. I still want to believe that. Thursday’s ruling suggests that, for some immigrants, the word “temporary” didn’t just describe their legal status but the nature of America’s welcome.
The first TPS recipients from Haiti arrived after the magnitude 7 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and killed hundreds of thousands of people in 2010. Today, Haiti faces a different catastrophe. Armed gangs control much of the capitalthousands have been killed or displaced and the State Department continues to warn Americans not to travel there.
For many TPS holders, the country they fled has not recovered. In many ways, it has become even more dangerous.
They believed something basic: that the United States would not send them back to a country engulfed by political violence, armed gangs and institutional collapse. TPS was created for those for whom returning home is unsafe. That humanitarian commitment should matter just as much as the lives those TPS holders have built since arriving.
They waited for Congress to do what some members had pushed for for years: create a pathway from temporary protection to permanent belonging. Instead, the years passed. Children became adults. Mortgages were paid. Careers were built. Entire lives unfolded while Washington postponed action. Temporary Protected Status became less a bridge than a waiting room. The finish line kept moving. Now, for many, it has disappeared altogether.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Haitian nurses, home health aides and other essential workers were hailed as heroes. Their work was indispensable then, and healthcare leaders say it remains indispensable today.
This dependence is not sentimental. It is measurable. The Boston Globe, citing data from the National Domestic Workers Alliancereported that roughly 13,000 Haitian TPS holders work as nursing assistants each day, caring for an estimated 65,000 patients.
According to a report by Massachusetts lawmakers Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, ending TPS for Haitians “threatens to seriously disrupt the health care, senior care and disability care workforces amid a nationwide health care crisis and persistent staffing shortages.”
Roughly 13,000 Haitian TPS holders work as nursing assistants each day, caring for an estimated 65,000 patients.
There is nothing temporary about the lives these TPS holders have built. There is nothing temporary about paying taxes for decades, buying a home, planting a garden or knowing your neighbors by name. There is nothing temporary about raising children who begin each school day by pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. There is nothing temporary about risking your life to care for strangers during a once-in-a-century pandemic.
I never imagined that, decades after taking my own oath of citizenship, I would be writing about a generation of immigrants who walked that same path with the same faith only to discover that the road ended before they reached their destination.
As the nation celebrates its 250th birthday, it must also confront a question that has shadowed much of its history: Who gets to belong?
Too often, America has answered that question by welcoming people when their labor is needed most, only to question their place later.
Perhaps that is the greatest irony of all. The people we continue to call temporary have spent years proving their commitment to this country. This ruling is bigger than Haitians or Syrians. It speaks to the covenant a nation makes with the people who answer its call during moments of need.
Though that process has never been smooth, America has always been at its best when it expanded the circle of belonging. Italians, Jews, Asians and even Black Americans born here were all told at one time that they could never fully be American. The country was not diminished by widening the definition of who belongs — it was strengthened by it.
The question is no longer whether Haitians who have their built lives here belong. They have answered that question through years of work, sacrifice and service.
The question is whether America still remembers what it means to be a country that welcomes immigrants.
The U.S. has every right to enforce its immigration laws. But laws do not exist in a vacuum.
The U.S. has every right to enforce its immigration laws. But laws do not exist in a vacuum. They also reflect the promises a nation makes about who belongs. After more than 16 years, the Haitians affected by Thursday’s ruling are no longer strangers passing through. They are co-workers, parishioners, homeowners and taxpayers woven into the fabric of neighborhoods from New York to Florida to Massachusetts.
Pull one thread and you do more than remove one person. You weaken the fabric itself.
Garry Pierre-Pierre
Garry Pierre-Pierre is a Pulitzer-prize winning, multimedia and entrepreneurial journalist. In 1999, he left The New York Times to launch the Haitian Times, a New York-based English-language publication serving the Haitian diaspora. He is also the co-founder of the City University Graduate School of Journalism‘s Center for Community and Ethnic Media and a senior producer at CUNY TV
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